Ladies’ Day overboard as ‘woke’ yachties rule at Cowes
AN ANCHOR of the social Season since 1826, and a favourite of the Royal Family, Cowes Week no longer appeals to ladies. The world-famous regatta has ditched its Ladies’ Day for fear of being ‘patronising’ to the fairer sex. Instead, today’s event on the Isle of Wight will henceforth be known as Women’s Day.
‘It’s a decision to make it more about the women and their achievements on the water rather than a “Ladies’ Day” with connotations of Ascot and the glamorous spectators there,’ one of the organisers tells me.
Queen Victoria often attended Cowes Week, Princess Anne is a regular, and the Duchess of Cambridge took part in the King’s Cup in 2019.
Women sailors will still be honoured, with trophies for the leading female helm and the leading all-female crew to be presented at the daily prizegiving this evening.
The move to dispense with the Ladies’ prize is also down to the day being perceived as ‘patronising’.
A director of the high-profile ‘Magenta project’, which champions women in sailing, tells me: ‘Cowes is challenging the convention of “Ladies’ Day” with the rather patronising and old-fashioned implications that can be easily interpreted and impugned from setting aside just one day to mark female involvement.’
Could the move be followed by other events of the Season, such as Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood race meetings? ‘It would be terribly sad if ladies were no longer welcome at Royal Ascot,’ a member of the Royal Enclosure tells me.
‘Ladies should not be a term of abuse; it should be something to celebrate. Will “gentlemen” become a banned word, too? There should be no place for this woke nonsense in the social calendar.’